Guilt Breaks

I spent all day today working on homework.

Mostly typography. Drawing, erasing, redrawing, inking.

I've been working really hard and doing well.

But non stop homework is exhausting. 

When I went next door to take a five minute break I felt immense guilt. 

More than ever before.

I believe me and my studious ways are changing.

CCS is changing me, and making me stronger.   In a way.

In a way it's also sucking my soul.

-Roz

ID

Two hours spent in the library today reading through ID magazine.

ID stands for International Design

It's a really great magazine, thick, and expensive.

It showcases designers and companies around the world and they are really big on the NEW and the NOW.

The magazine began in 1954, it has come a long way since then, but hasn't changed their purpose.

Even though I can't afford the things inside, I enjoy looking at them.

http://www.id-mag.com

Bleach.

John Ganis taught us how to bleach black and white photographs today.

It's pretty cool if you have the right image to do it on.

The end.

-Roz

Star gazing.

I was born and raised in northern Michigan in the country.

On any given night I could look up at the sky and see a sea of stars.

They have always been there, and as far as I was concerned, always would be.

The summer after 8th grade my parents, brother and I took a trip to Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

While on a slow rafting type trip down a major river with a tour guide and other travelers one middle to late aged woman asked the tour guide, "Is it true you can see the stars out at night here?"

It took a lot for my family to not laugh.

How absurd a thought.

Why wouldn't you be able to see the stars? My parents later explained to my brother and I that maybe she was from a big city where the lights and pollution block out the stars.

Today while on break from Digital Fundamentals I chatted with Kristy, a classmate. She grew up in Warren, lived in NYC for 10 years, and now is back in Detroit area studying at CCS.

When I told her I'm from Alpena, she had the same sort of reaction, "I heard you can see the stars up north."

I said yea, and realized that for 20 years I've been taking stars for granted. 

It's true, in the city the stars are faint and few.

Next time I return home, I'll be sure to take a nice long look at the stars.

-Roz

Gentlemen take their hats off.

In visual culture class today Dr. Hart made the point that men used to take off their hats in elevators.

I never heard this before. I understand that they did to say hello, especially to a woman, and when in a restaurant.

But in an elevator?

In the era when men wore hats and tipped them, they took them off in enclosed spaces.

Part of the reason was out of respect.

I'm not sure I understand it fully.

But I like it.

And wish men still wore hats.

And tipped them to say hello.

That's sexy.

-Roz

Networking

Today I met a new person.

We share music interests.

Next of kin

I never really understood what it meant.

But then I read in my dictionary

 

          Kin-blood relation, member of the family, sibling.

What's that key?

On a standard QWERTY keyboard below the escape key and above the tab key is the ~` key.

It's called the tilde key. 

How to clean pennies.

Remember the experiment in grade school in which you had to clean pennies?

Well I do.

I remember boiling them, and I remember soaking them in vinegar.

Cara and I found about 30 pennies glued to a metal box that our previous roommate left behind.

I'm so broke we decided to take them off and clean them and put them to use.

First we tried boiling and it loosened the glue a little, but the pennies were still pretty nasty looking.

So we asked the neighbors and looked online.

What we found to work awesomely was ketchup. 

Yep.

Put pennies in ketchup for just a few minutes then rinse them off with hot water and they will look pretty shinny!

Relatively, from before to after, the pennies on the right are amazingly clean!

-Roz

Language Lesson.

Todays bit comes from John Ganis this semesters thursday teacher which I previously stated is brilliant and a renaissance man.

Avant is before in French.

Garde is the mass or people in French.

Not just a toy.

You know that toy that you see in tourist shops or on office desks that is a bunch of needles between two slabs of clear plastic?

The one everyone sticks their hand or face into.

Well I read in I.D. magazine today (killer mag if you are into design and expensive lighting, furniture, and the like) that the face mold toy is called Atomix. 

And it was developed by a man by the name of Francois Dallegret in 1966.

It purpose was to show complex atom structures.

-Roz

Dr. stands for "knows a lot of stuff"

I only had one class today, visual culture.

It was really boring because we have a new teacher and he didn't seem prepared at all.

But I realized that people with doctorate degrees are generally smart people and have a lot to teach.

Not only about their field, but about life also.

Dr. James Heart is a man of age and wisdom, he has a fascination with motorcycles, is a trained jazz musician, was born in Europe and has been and seen many places.

He talks quiet and can't hear the back row students, but I think I'll learn a lot from him if I sit near the front.

Let the learning begin.

-Roz

Long Train Runnin

There is a train station two and a half blocks from CCS.

A train to Ann Arbor is $6.

Shortcuts, shortcuts, shortcuts!

Today I spent a lot of time watching tutorial videos on Lynda.com

For digital fundamentals class I was forced to pay nearly $40 for this semester for a membership for Lynda.com

It's a little boring, but incredibly helpful.

If you want to learn basically anything computer related, go you Lynda.com and see about paying some money to learn a lot of stuff!

I think regular monthly membership is $25.

One thing I love about computers is the keyboard shortcuts and how there are about a thirty thousand of them. (jk, don't really know how many.)

The video I just finished is full of keyboard shortcuts. One is on a mac, press command and tab. That takes you from one application to another.

Keyboard shortcuts are a big time saver and really helpful. If you ever use a computer, I suggest finding out a few shortcuts for the actions you do most. Like opening Word, closing a window, opening a new tab or window, refreshing a web page, saving or printing a document..........

-Roz

E.T. and snowboarding

Yesterday Tom, Dylan and I left school and drove up north so that today we could go snowboarding.

It snowed all day and we had a really good time!

I did way better than we all thought I would since I haven't gone in 2 yrs. And maybe they just figured I'd suck. IDK

Last night I learned that the people making the movie E.T. wanted skittles or m&m's to be in the movie, but neither brand would agree, so the movie used resse's pieces instead.

And today I learned that I can not only pick up where I left off two years ago in snowboarding, but do even better.

Tom likes the black diamonds, years ago I'd only go on green slopes at Nubs. I think I only did blue today. 

I had a really good time!!

I'm pumped to go monday and whenever else I can with CCS students and have it paid for!

-Roz

Thursday is learning day!

I learned a handful of things today.

Like the DIA right next door to CCS is considered one of the top museums in the US.

And film developer turns brownish over time because it oxidizes but you can buy dark colored accordion style bottles that keep most of the air out.

And there is this word for story or question in Buddhism-koan.

 An example of a koan is "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

My photo studio teacher is a smart and funny man, I'm looking forward to thursdays this semester.

-Roz

Typography

Today in Typography class I became aware of how much fun I am going to have.

Also how much hard work and time consuming it is going to be.

But the teacher is fun and knowledgeable, and there are some cool and some interesting ppl in my class.

One other thing, typography is not making pictures of objects out of letters, it is composing the typed letters in a manner that evokes an emotion or feeling.

When everyone had a maid.

So I was in the Park Shelton building down the street today and made a comment about the fat doors.

It's like a regular front door on each apartment, except on the inside and outside there is a bubble, or half cylinder. 

The girl I was with said that they were so the residences could put their coats inside the door and the maids or whoever would open up the outside of the door and clean the coats.

I found this very interesting.

But as always I was slightly skeptical, so I tried to look it up online. But I didn't know where to start, so I got nowhere.

If you know, share please!

-Roz

An important day of nothing.

Today I learned who three of my teachers are.

Two of them are male, one is female.

Two of them seem interesting, one of them put me to sleep.

Unfortunately those two sentences work respectively.

I've just made a connection.

Any design, math, architecture based teacher I've ever had was not only male, but a good and fun teacher.

Examples: Mr. Loyer for building trades, drafting, and graphic arts

                    Mr. Abram for math

                    Mr. Genshaw for computers

                    The short bald guy for ACC computers

                    Mr. Paris for math

And now Mark West and Chad Reichert

I think men make better design teachers and women make better english teachers, stereotypically speaking. 

-Roz

A move.

Today I learned that moving is tiring.

Maybe it was the 4 hour drive added to the move, but I was ready to go to bed at 7pm today.

That's a first.

My blog, my rules.

I'm breaking my rules today.

I didn't really learn anything new today.

I did experience something new though.

I rode down a trail I've never known of before and went to a restaurant I've never been to before.

My dad and I met up with the Nowak's and rode snowmobiles all day today, from about 9am til 4pm.

It was really awesome riding!

Snow was falling in beautiful large flakes.

It wasn't too cold for me, I had on lots of clothes.

2 pairs of socks

4 pairs of pants (leggings, jeans, scrubs, snow)

3 shirts (long, short, tank)

1 double layer winter coat

2 pairs of gloves

And my thumb didn't hurt too bad.

My double jointed thumb usually hurts after 30mins.

We started at Bolton, went towards Posen, Millersburg, and ate lunch at The Bluffs.

The trails were 992 and 99, if I recall correctly.

Between Millersburg and The Bluffs the trail was really awesome!!!

The turns were scarry, but fun. Took those 30-40mph

And the hills were tall!! That's the best part, best riding I've ever done!!

The fastest I clocked was 65.

We hit a few fields and ripped up some new snow.

I love snowmobiling!

-Roz

More on dreams.

Today I heard that Paul Harvey reported the following:

Smelling good smells just before sleeping can give you good dreams.

And smelling bad smells before bed can result in bad dreams.

Bad knees?

I'm only 20 and ever since last summer I have knee trouble.

Somedays my knees just feel sore.

It's really lame and uncomfortable.

The cold weather has made them worse lately, they both hurt all day today. :(

My fourty something uncle with seventy something knees told me that squats can help knees.

And my mom said that walking slow on no incline on a treadmill is not only good for knees, but pretty much the whole body and all joints.

A friend to call on.

I think I'm letting down any possible readers tonight.

I don't feel like I learned anything today.

But I did decide that a friend is a person you talk to and hang out with and call on the phone, and when they call, you answer the phone.

Friend wise, I had a shitty day. Multiple let downs.

I'm ready to go back to school now.

I could shut off my phone and it wouldn't change a thing, nobody calls it anyways.

How to kill a what?!

While reading an advertising book today I learned some really disturbing news.

Somewhere in the world at some time, people violently killed baby seals for their fur.

What I read is that in countries such as Canada and Japan people used baseball bats or stranded animals near the shore while the tide went down.

My internet has been slow today, so I didn't get a chance to look up as much information as I'd like on the subject.

But I did find one site that stated Europe placed a ban on the import of seal products.

This has been going on since at least the 1980's and still is today.

I find it very sad.

Here's to your health.

I picked up the latest USA Weekend today and read the health article.

Of the 12 tips, I found three to be interesting.

5. Ditch depression with D

Vitamin D was found in higher amounts in non-depressed people than in depressed people. It also helps calcium absorption and bone health.

7. Go from good to grape

Grape juice drinkers and enjoy the same health benefits as wine drinkers. Actually consuming grapes in any form can reduce the risk of heart disease. Grape juice improves blood pressure, grape-seed extract helps to lower cholesterol.

8. Go soft on sleep

Hard beds have been said to help back pain for years. But a Danish study showed people with chronic low back pain who slept on water beds or a body-conforming foam mattress reported less pain and nearly an hour more of sleep a night than those who slept on a harder beds.

On a drive back from Indiana.

I learned two things today.

1) Highway 127 in Michigan is curvy, confusing, and crappy.

2) The thermos my parents own keeps hot coffee hot for 6-7 hours.

Other things I learned or discovered or had reaffirmed today are all personal things. So if you don't care to read on I won't be offended. I will however be offended if you decide to preach to me. Save your breath and typing time, that argument with me is fruitless.

I don't like driving my moms vehicle. 

I think I have finally decided my answer to the rhetorical ago old question, "Can people change?" Is ultimately, like Limbeck say, "People don't change."

http://www.purevolume.com/limbeck

While in a text fight that revolved somewhat around my religious beliefs my mom and I ironically drove past a billboard that stated,

"Life is short. Eternity isn't. -God"

I read it and agreed. Life is short, I've known this for a long time. It's part of the reason I am doing this new blog. It's why I am going to school, it's why I have tattoos and piercings. It's why I am who I am and do what I do. It's why I make lists of things to do before I die and take steps towards them.

Life is short and I like it that way.

The point of this blog is to keep learning and growing each day. I feel it's what makes life worth living.

I decided today that the ability to learn is the greatest thing ever!

I want to learn as much as I can while alive. The way I see it is dying stops all growth. In an afterlife there is no more learning, no more growth, no excitement, no change.

You know what you knew and you are who you were when you died.

It's groundhog day forever.

It's futile.

Life on the other hand has change, excitement, chance, choice, disappointment, risk, growth, hurt, and so many other things.

If there is a heaven it'll be my hell.

I am going to live life. And when my death comes I want to say I've done what I wanted and accept my end. I don't want there to be more. 

Throw me in a hole and cover me up.

I will not rise or move on to afterlife, it will be black and darkness.

There I will decay.

I'm happy with that.

A personal day.

The most important thing I learned today was something more personal, that might not help anyone else.

I learned that I don't like large parties and I can't stand screaming children.

There were 30-45 people stuffed in my parents house for the Krawczak christmas.

Children ran around screaming, adults caught up on life and the temperature of the usually cold house rose and rose.

I got a headache and started to feel sick. 

Usually I like parties and gatherings, but that many people with no outlet was too much to take.

I'd like to think that'll be the last time I ever have to be in that situation, but as life goes on, I'm sure one similar will occur. 

At least I know I can make it out alive and in one piece.

-Roz

How to keep yourself from sleep.

When I returned home from school a few weeks ago I spent the first week home having bad dreams. 

Feeling frustrated I wrote a FaceBook note about it. 

One response I received was as follows:

Tom Florip at 1:52pm December 21

I happen to dabble in oneirology. Have you been eating within1-3 hours of going to bed? That's the most common cause of nightmares. Digestion triggers increased metabolism which triggers increased brain activity. Most studies have shown that 3/4 of all dream content is negative (the brain is attempting to purge "memories"--really just associations--that trigger fear as part of our human evolutionary process to better adapt to our surroundings), so any increase in brain activity will likely yield bad dreams. In other words, the odds are stacked in favor of experiencing nightmares as opposed to happy frolics through Candyland once your metabolism is up at night. Additionally, if you happen to sleep with the television on as I do almost every night, your brain activity will reflect what is being taken in through your ears and there's a good chance you'll end up "dreaming" about whatever happens to be on at 3am. Those damn knife infomercials can make for some scary slasher nightmares.

I thank him, I definitely learned something new that day. 

And last night/early this morning I learned something else new.

You see...

Shortly before heading to bed I made myself a de-lish bowl of nachos with hot sauce.

From previous knowledge I know that spicy foods help speed ones metabolism. 

From even earlier previous knowledge I know that 2+2=4.

So when I couldn't fall asleep for hours after many different techniques [another learned story] and then waking up at 5:27am and 6:50am, I put it all together.

I do believe that my choice to ingest hot sauce was an anti-sleeping death sentence.

My body and mind were quite awake and alert.

This all concludes to some advise I have for my readers.

When you find yourself wanting to loose weight, spice up your foods. (Including hot sauce, peppers, cinnamon.)

But when you think a midnight snack will help you sleep, think again.

-Roz

Learn. Shoot. Earn.

My parents got me interested in travel early in life.

I have been into photography for about 5 years.

Recently I have developed an interest for video.

There are commercials on the Travel Channel for

Travel Channel Academy

Today I looked into it online.

It is a four day intense digital film school for travel video journalists.

It seems like an amazing experience and I've decided to add it to a list of things I am striving for.

I'd hope that someday Kayla and I could go to this and come out with some awesome knowledge and unforgettable memories.

Unfortunately this mere four day experience is in either NY, CA, or D.C. and cost's $2000 for tuition alone. 

Oddly that doesn't discourage me that much. It actually encourages me to work hard at school and be determined to get a summer job and save, save, save.

Nice to meet you, 2009!

Hello all!

This is where I have set up camp.

I have given myself the challenge of recording at least one thing EVERYDAY that I have learned.

My grandma Krawczak always says, "You learn something new everyday."

For the next three hundred and sixty five (365) days I want to tell the world what I have learned.

Whether read by everyone or none, I am committed to sticking to this resolution.

My hope is that in doing this I will push myself to learn more everyday, to be sure I am getting my moneys worth at art school, to be sure that I am moving forward in life not just being static, to be alive.

Life is short and I want to learn all I can.

This is my way of tracking my progress and being proud of myself. 

I want to share what knowledge I have.

And maybe I can inspire others.

Comments and interaction are always welcome and encouraged.

Please enjoy.

-Roz